Faith
by watched 2 much tv
Summary: When Casey's stuck in an elevator with a woman in labor, can the team get him out in time or will he have to deliver the baby?
1. Chapter 1

To say Christopher Hermann was bored was an understatement. He had been lying on the couch at the fire station for the past two hours, idly flipping through the channels. Last night, he had been forced to sit though hours of silent films courtesy of his mother in law. Today, the firehouse had been extraordinarily inactive and everyone in it seemed to be to busy to entertain him. Hermann didn't usually hope for a call, no firefighter does, but today he hoped for any kind of action.

Otis walked in the room and flopped onto the couch.

"Have you seen Casey?" Hermann asked, checking the clock. It read 10:32, same as the last time he checked.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him all day," Otis said thoughtfully.

"Figures. The one time I remember the money I owe him, he's not around," Hermann moaned as moved into a more upright position.

"What d'you owe him for?" Otis asked. He himself had turned Hermann down when the older man had asked for a loan to fund some new investment opportunity just last month. Otis wondered whether he'd turned to Casey next. He knew Casey wasn't that stupid, but on the other hand, he was that nice.

"I may have borrowed some money with the intent of returning it as soon as made a little more, but things didn't go in my favor," Hermann said.

Otis nodded. "Investment opportunity?"

Hermann turned to Otis. "Pool game," he said.

Chief Boden walked into the room, making his way to the piles of boxes on the other side.

"Hey Chief," called out Otis. "Have you seen Casey today?"

The Chief looked up from the disorganized mess of boxes. "He switched shifts with Hempstead. Said he had to run some kind of errand and it had to be done today." Boden looked back down. "Say, who did I tell to do something about all of this?" he asked, gesturing to the collapsing pile of cardboard boxes.

The two men from the other side of the room called out "Mills."

* * *

Lieutenant Matt Casey was walking through the fifth floor of the Schwartz building, looking for Joesph Lynch's office. He was doing some renovations at Joe's house, but small problems had come up and Casey thought it would be best to solve them sooner rather than later. The only problem was he was having a little trouble finding Joe.

He spotted a redheaded woman holding several file folders walking in his direction.

"Excuse me, miss," Casey said. The woman stopped. He continued, "I'm looking for Joseph Lynch's office and I can't seem to find it. Could you point me in his direction?"

"You must be Matt. Joe said he was expecting you. His office is down this hallway and to your left. You'll hear him before you see him, so just follow the sound of his voice," the woman said.

"Thanks," Casey replied and walked away.

* * *

"Well, did you?" Gabriela Dawson asked her partner, Leslie Shay.

Shay hesitated before saying, "Well, no, but-" "But nothing, Shay. You were the one that wanted to. This is _your _problem," Dawson interrupted as she continued to pour ingredients into the large, dented bowl.

"C'mon. All I need is one little favor," Shay goaded, passing her partner a large spoon.

Dawson took the spoon and looked at Shay. "No," she said sternly. "This is not gonna end up some disastrous fiasco involving the entire firehouse like it did last time."

"She's right, Shay. Last time was bad. I'm still not allowed back in the Best Buy on Clark Street," Hermann added, snacking on some chips. Neither of the women had noticed him enter the kitchen. "Whatcha cookin' there, Dawson?" he asked as he eyed the bowl, hungrily.

Dawson moved the bowl away from him.

* * *

Casey was on his way to the elevators. As it turned out, most of the issues that had come up were easily resolvable. He was out of Joe's office in no time. He smiled at the redhead, whose name, he had learned, was Melanie, as he walked past her.

All he had to do today was pick up some things at the hardware store and then he had a few easy fixings in Joe's basement before he could enjoy the rest of his day off.

When Casey reached the elevator, there was someone else waiting for it. The woman was obviously very pregnant and she looked very anxious.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. The two of them walked in and Casey pressed the lobby button.

The doors closed and a loud crash was heard along with screams. The elevator dropped several feet quickly and both of them grabbed the rails before it stopped abruptly.

* * *

Dawson shut off the oven and took the pot of stew off it. She put it on the counter and walked away, giving Hermann a warning look.

Suddenly, the bell rang and everyone stopped what they were doing. "Building collapse. Engine 51. Truck 81. Squad 3. Medic 61."

Hermann cheered. When Mills gave him a confused look, he responded with, "What? Didn' you hear building collapsed? Get a move on it." And with that he left.

* * *

I got the idea for this and when I found out the episode "Two Families" was going to have a similar plot point, I decided to write this before the episode came out. Sorry it's so short. This was meant to be a one shot, but I thought it might end up being to long so I decided to split it up.


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you okay?" Casey asked the woman, concern written all over his face. Panic written all over her's.

"Oh my God. My water broke before. I was going to the hospital," she sputtered, right hand over her belly.

Casey hit the alarm button on the elevator. "Don't panic. I'm Lieutenant Matt Casey. I'm a firefighter. What's your name?" he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"I'm- I'm Juliet," she squeaked, swaying from side to side.

"Well, Juilet, why don't you sit down," Casey suggested. The woman nodded, and Casey helped her sit down.

He sat down near her and looked at her. "Don't worry. You and the baby are going to be fine. Help is on the way. I work with these people. They're good at what they do. We'll be out of here in no time, " he promised.

Juliet looked at him and nodded, slightly calmer now.

* * *

"What happened?" Severide asked Chief Boden as they stared up at the Schwartz buliding, the rest of the crew standing behind them.

"The crane from the construction site next door onto the building. Too bad the foundation of the building was damaged during the earthquake last month and it wasn't fixed. This building is running the risk of collapsing. Most of the people on the first three floors are out, but there are people trapped on the top two floors and we need to get them out before this collapses," Chief Boden explained.

Everyone rushed into the building.

* * *

"So, do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?" Casey inquired, trying to keep Juliet from panicking again. He didn't blame her. If he was in her position, he'd be just as worried.

Juliet smiled and shook her head. "No," she sighed, "It was supposed to be a surprise for me and Tim, but now I don't know if Tim's gonna see it."

"He will," Casey insisted, "Does Tim know your water broke?"

"I called him when it happened. He was going to meet me at the hospital," Juliet said.

Casey pulled out his phone. "Still no signal," he sighed.

"Argh," Juliet groaned. Casey moved to her. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"Contraction," she panted. "The first few weren't bad, but they've been getting worse. Where's the help you promised?!"

_Shit, this isn't good._ He sat down next to her and rubbed her shoulder. "Trust me. They will be here and the three of us will me fine." he assured more confidently than he felt. _C'mon Severide, Hermann, anyone._

* * *

Hermann was walking around a particularly deserted part of the fifth floor, looking for anyone who needed help.

"Fire department!" he called out. "Anyone here?" He looked around.

"Over here. Help. Please," Hermann heard a voice call out weakly. He looked around again.

"Where are you?" he shouted. "Second desk," the cry came.

His eyes shot to the second desk. Behind it, the wall had fallen over. Hermann ran to it. He tried moving the wall, with little success.

"Are you okay?" he asked, as he tried to lift the wall.

The woman choked out, "My leg."

After thinking for a second, Hermann said, "I'm gonna lift this and you're gonna roll away. Okay?"

"Okay," came the reply.

"On the count of three," he said. "One, two, three." Hermann grunted and lifted the wall. The woman rolled out quickly and Hermann dropped the wall with a large crash. "Shit," he said.

"Let's get you out of here," Hermann said, reaching to down to pull her to her feet.

"No! Juliet!" she screamed. "Juliet's water broke and she had just gotten on the elevator! You need to help her!"

_Shit! _"We'll get her," Hermann promised. And then he turned around and shouted, "Mills, Otis, someone! Get over here!"

Otis hollered back, "I'm coming!" A minute later, Otis was made his way to the pair.

"Someone might be stuck in the elevator and their water broke. I'm gonna find Severide and check it out. You get her outta here. She's got a hurt leg," Hermann said before running off and hollering for Severide.

* * *

"Twelve years? Congratulations!" Casey exclaimed.

"Well, we've been together since high school," Juliet gushed. "What about you? Do you love your girl?"

Casey hesitated. Suddenly, he felt confused again. He was engaged to Hallie, but she wasn't the one constantly on his mind. She hadn't been for awhile, and yet, he fought for him and Hallie.

He finally said, "It's complicated."

Juliet started to speak, but she screamed as another contraction hit.

Casey paled. _Where are you guys?_

* * *

"Okay, Hermann, I can open a space for you, but I can't fit down it. You go down and see what's going on and I'll pull you back up," Severide said as he began to swing his axe at the wall.

"We're not gonna be able to get her out of the elevator if her contractions are too close together," Hermann pointed out.

"I guess you can go find out," Severide said, gesturing to the hole he had made in the wall.

Hermann climbed through it, taking the axe with him. He got onto the roof of the elevator and began removing the one of the ceiling panels.

* * *

"Oh my God, what's that noise?" Juliet squeaked. "We're gonna die."

Casey's eyes widened and he stood up. "No," he said, "That's good."

* * *

Hermann heard talking coming from the elevator below him. There were two people down there. And one of the them was a guy. His voice sounded really familiar but it was muffled and Hermann couldn't recognize it.

The tile was almost off.

"Fire department," he called out, letting the people in the elevator know of his presence.

* * *

"Hermann?" Casey thought aloud.

* * *

Thanks for all your reviews. I'm glad you guys liked it!


	3. Chapter 3

Finally, Hermann got the tile loose enough to pull off. He pulled it off and looked into the elevator.

He was confused by who he saw.

"Casey?" he half asked, half called out.

Casey turned around and was overjoyed at who he saw. Not only were they going to get out of here, but it was his men getting them out, so he knew the job would be done right.

"What took you guys so long?" he asked.

"We didn't know there was anyone in here. Anyway, what's the deal?" Hermann said, conversationally.

"Her water broke before we even got in the elevator," Casey whispered, pausing to look at his watch before continuing, "And we've been here over two hours." Both men looked worried

Juliet cried out in pain. Hermann eyes shot in her direction and Casey turned around to look at her. She seemed to feel the men looking at her and looked up at them. "Just a contraction. Everything's fine," she panted.

Severide must have heard her because he called out, "Everything alright down there?"

Hermann turned around and hollered, "Yeah! I'll be up in a minute." He leaned back down so he could see the inside of the elevator.

"Hey," Hermann whispered to Casey. "I'm not a doctor, but I have kids. I'd say that kids about ready to come out."

"What are you doing still talking to me? Get Severide and get us out of here," Casey demanded.

"I don't think she's gonna be able to hold on until we get to the hospital. It's gonna take a while to get you guys out of here. The building's not too stable and we don't want to take any shortcuts getting you guys out of here. If she has to have the baby, it's better she does it in here than out there. The entire floor is covered in debris," Hermann reasoned.

Casey was bewildered. "She can't give birth in here!" he croaked.

"I'm going to talk to Severide and send a medic down here," Hermann said and he stood up and climbed out of the whole in the elevator shaft wall.

"Where's he going?" Juliet panted. Casey looked at her for a second. She was glistening with sweat, just like women in the movies. What if she did have to deliver the baby in here? That wouldn't be so bad, would it? Dawson and Shay were trained for this stuff. Everything would be fine. He just had to keep calm.

"To see how they're gonna get us out of here and to get a paramedic," he told her.

"Oh, ok. That's good," she said more to herself than to Casey.

Suddenly, a thump was heard above them, followed by a female voice saying, "Ow." A second later, Dawson appeared in the hole.

"Hey Casey," she said before leaning to her left to look past Casey and get a glimpse of the woman. "I'm Gabriela," she told the woman.

Juliet looked up and whimpered, "I'm Juliet."

"Don't worry, Juliet. How long have you been having contractions?" Dawson asked.

Juliet thought for a second. "I don't know," she said apologetically.

"It's been over two hours," Casey interjected. Dawson waved him closer.

"So?" he whispered half worriedly half impatiently, after walking closer to her.

"Severide says it'll take a while to get you guys out and I don't think there'll be enough time to get her out of here and to a hospital. I think she's gonna have to have the baby here," the paramedic whispered urgently.

Casey rolled his eyes. "That's what Hermann said," he snapped.

"It's my decision what we do. Severide is going to start trying to get you guys out, but unless this baby holds on until then, it's going to be born in here," Dawson said, ignoring his frustration. Casey didn't respond. "How far apart are her contractions?" Dawson asked, moving to get up.

"Where are you going?" Casey asked. "To get some stuff and to fill Severide in. The contractions?" she reminded him.

He looked at Juliet and then back at Dawson. "I don't know," he hissed. He was happy to see Dawson. Really, he was. But he was still very against the baby being delivered here. Juliet was scared. He was growing more nervous by the minute. They had been trapped in such a small space for so long and all he wanted was for someone to tell him that they were getting out.

Juliet groaned in pain. "Time it," Dawson said.

Casey panicked. "With what?" he sputtered. Dawson shot him a look of disbelief before looking to his watch and pointing out, "With your watch!"

He took a deep breath and looked at his watch before going over to the woman on the floor and sitting down next to her."Hey Juliet," Casey sighed. "Dawson wants to know how far apart your contractions are, so let me know when another hits."

"Matt?" Juliet asked nervously. "Am I going to have to have the baby in here?" She looked at him expectantly.

There was silence in the elevator for a moment. Casey sighed and nodded. "Dawson thinks there isn't enough time for you to get out of here and make it to a hospital," he conceded.

She groaned. "Contraction," she grunted.

Casey looked at his watch again and shook his head. "Less than two minutes between," he told Juliet.

"Can I tell you something?" the brunette asked shyly.

"Of course," Casey said, leaning against the wall. Nervous as he was, he was still trying to not let it show.

"I'm scared," Juliet admitted, not meeting Casey's eyes. "I'm having this baby in an elevator and Tim's not here and there are so many things that could go wrong. What if the baby doesn't make it? Or if I don't?"

"Hey, look at me," he coaxed. Juliet slowly looked up. He continued, "Tonight, you and Tim are going to be sitting in a hospital room, holding your baby. You're going to be sending a picture of your baby to all your family and friends. Dawson knows what she's doing."

"Do you trust her?" asked Juliet.

"With my life," Casey answered, not missing a beat. Juliet nodded and gave him a knowing look. She was about to say something else, but Dawson landed on the roof of the elevator with another thump.

"The contractions are less than two minutes apart," Casey informed Dawson when she appeared in the in open space in the ceiling.

She nodded and said, "It probably won't be much longer now. Severide says he can get you guys in about an hour and a half." Juliet replied with a shaky yes and groaned when another contraction hit.

"Casey, can you grab this?" Dawson asked as she lowered a bag full of equipment into the elevator.

Casey quickly got up and took the bag from Dawson, placing it on the floor by his feet. He raised both his arms above his head, as if to get something else. When Dawson turned her attention back into the elevator, she gave Casey a puzzled look.

"What are you doing?" she asked, confusion evident on her face.

"Helping you down," said Casey as if it was obvious.

Dawson shook her head and said, "I'm not coming down there."

"What you mean you're not coming down here?" Casey demanded, putting his arms down irritatedly. He was finding it very hard to not blow up at Dawson. First she said they were delivering the baby in here and now she won't come into the elevator. What the hell is she thinking?

"I can't fit through that hole," the paramedic pointed out.

"Yes, you can," he argued. When she didn't respond, Casey continued, putting his arms back up, "I'll pull you through. You'll be fine."

"Casey, the hole is too small," Dawson said slowly, enunciating every word.

"You'll be able to get down if you just maneuver your way through it," he snapped, demonstrating with his hands.

"Let's say I got down. How would I get back out?" she tried to reason.

"Dawson, we don't have time for games. You'd get out when Severide gets all of us out," Casey said frustrated.

"And what happens if we need something? Casey, I wouldn't be able to get back up in time to get it," Dawson pointed out.

The blonde firefighter unwillingly conceded. Of course she was right. She was one of the smartest people he knew. He had known from the beginning that she had a point. But she couldn't deliver the baby from up there. Surely she wasn't expecting him to do it? His stomach turned at the possibility.

"You okay, Juliet?" Casey asked quietly as he returned to his previous seat near Juliet.

"I'll be fine," she groaned. Casey took her hand in his. "Squeeze my hand as much as it hurts," he said looking her in the eyes.

Juliet looked at him with uncertainty.

"It's not fair that you have to do this alone. I can't get you out of here. I can't help you, but I can do this," he said sincerely.

Juliet giggled, "You're going to regret this."

Casey shook his head. "I really don't think so," he said.

Dawson had been watching the exchange curiously busied herself by digging through the bag when Casey turned his head in her direction. _Why does he have to keep proving to me that he's the most perfect guy on the planet? He's taken. Pull yourself together, Gabriela. _

A voice calling from outside of the elevator shaft snapped Dawson from her thoughts.

"Dawson!" Severide called down. "Hey, Dawson! I need you back up here!"

Dawson pulled a blanket out of the medical bag and tossed it down to Casey. He caught it easily and looked at it questionly.

"Juliet, you can use that as a sheet to sit on. I have a few more to clean off the baby and wrap it in. You might wanna, um, get ready to get that baby out of there," Dawson said in a professional manner.

Casey handed Juliet the stark white blanket. Juliet looked up and asked Dawson, "What?"

Dawson awkwardly hesitated for a second before covering her mouth with her hand and whispering, "Panties."

Severide shouted again, "Dawson, everything okay down there?"

She stood up and Casey jumped up and asked, "Where are you going?"

Dawson squatted back down, so she could see him. "Severide's calling for me. I'm going to go see what he needs," she replied, growing a little weary of Casey's behavior. He was understandably worried, but the man ran into burning buildings every day. This was not nearly as bad.

"What if something happens while you're gone?" he whispered, trying no to worry Juliet. His efforts were a waste because the woman was fixated on the argument.

"I'm not going to be gone that long. That baby will not be born in the next five minutes," and with that she was gone.

* * *

I'm sorry it took so long to update. Thanks for all your reviews! I'm gonna take a second to point you all to the forum. Go and talk and start your own threads if I haven't started them for you.


	4. Chapter 4

Special thanks to _Andorian Ice Princess-AIP_ for some of the facts in the this chapter. I'm sorry it's so short and that it's taken so long to update. Certain obligations have kept me busy.

* * *

Casey slunked back against the wall. Upon noticing Juliet had laid down the blanket and was now removing her underwear as per Dawson's suggestion, her averted his gaze and busied himself picking at a loose thread on his t-shirt.

Discreetly putting her panties far to her right, Juliet turned to Casey and asked, "Is that what makes it complicated?"

Casey looked at her confused.

"Is she why your relationship is complicated?" Juliet clarified.

A contraction hit and she screamed. Casey took her hand in his. Juliet squeezed it almost immediately. The firefighter was surprised by the pain that little woman was inflicting on his hand. She was right about him regretting letting him do this, but he endured. Dawson would probably have to take a look at his hand later.

"Sorry," she apologized, seeing the pained look on Casey's face.

"Didn't hurt too bad," he said, trying to pass it off nonchalantly.

Juliet laughed. "Right. I'll let that one go. Now answer the question. Is Gabriela why your relationship is complicated?" Juliet pestered.

Casey looked surprised. "What? No. Of course not. Me and Dawson are just friends," he stammered.

"Don't lie," Juliet chided. "Your reaction basically confirmed I was right. And the way she was looking at you before tells me she's definitely into you."

"Dawson's not into me," he disagreed. She'd never shown any kind of evidence she was interested in him. The only time he'd ever felt he could've had a real chance with her was when she told him what she would have done if Voight wanted her to back down. She couldn't actually like him, could she?

A familiar thump was heard.

* * *

"Severide, can I get a hand?" the paramedic called out. The man's hand grabbed onto her outstreched arms and pulled her out of the elevator shaft.

"Is everything alright in there?" he asked, an uncharacteristically concern look written on his sweaty face.

"Yeah. That baby should be out soon," Dawson said.

"Jason cut his hand. We wanted to know if he could keep working," Severide said.

The firefighter Dawson assumed was Jason stuck forth his bleeding hand. Dawson took one glance at it before she burst, "You need stitches. You can't work like that. What happened to it?"

Jason looked sheepish. "It may have been the axe," he mumbled quietly.

"The axe? Get out of here! Go get stitches!" she shouted looking startled.

Jason quickly ran to the staircase.

"That's who you've got trying to get us out of here?!" Dawson snapped, poking Severide in the chest.

Severide tried to explain, "Look, Dawson, most of the guys are trying to get people out from under the rubble next door-"

Dawson interrupted him furiously, "And what? We're not considered a priority? We've got a woman giving birth in there, Severide! This building could collapse while we're in there-"

"This building is not gonna collapse. Or at least, this part of the building isn't gonna collapse. The elevator shaft is on the most stable part of the foundation. You guys are gonna be fine. There are people dying next door," he said calmly, looking her in the eyes. Dawson could tell he was being honest, so she nodded, climbing back into the hole.

* * *

"Anything new?" Dawson asked, looking into the elevator through the empty space where the tile once was.

"Not really. What did Severide need?" Casey said, standing up and moving closer to her.

"Someone hurt their hand. He wanted to know how bad it was," Dawson said.

Casey looked back at Juliet before turning back to Dawson. Worry was written all over his face.

"Something the matter Casey?" Dawson inquired. He sighed. "Casey?" she asked again.

"Is there any way I could get you to come down here?" he asked.

"I already said no," she told him.

Casey looked down. He had spent so much time staring at the ugly, bespeckled pattern of tiles that it was burned into his memory.

Dawson watched him. He was acting so differently today. The blonde firefighter she'd come to be good friends with was usually in charge of every situation. Today, he seemed worried.

"I can't do this, Dawson. I can't deliver this baby," he looked up at her.

The paramedic stared at him. "Casey, you can do this. You've been trained to do this," she assured.

Casey shook his head. "It's not the same," he said. "I've never done this before."

"You learned how to deliver babies in training," Dawson pointed out.

"That's not the same. A practice dummy and the real thing don't compare. Two peoples lives depend on me. One of them hasn't even gotten a chance at life yet, Dawson. I don't know if can do it," he admitted. Casey thought back to two weeks ago. The three-alarm fire on Elm. A fuse had exploded and three buildings had burned to the ground. Three people died on the floor above him because he hadn't gotten to them in time. If he couldn't do his own job, something he did everyday, how was he expected to handle this?

Dawson wanted to reach out to him. To hug him and say it wasn't his fault. She knew what he was thinking about. Casey had been distant since the call on Elm. He'd been blaming himself for not being able to save those kids. He had been the closest to them, but the smoke had gone black awhile and Chief Boden had been shouting at him to get out through the walkies-talkies for the last five minutes. He'd barely gotten out when the building went down.

"Casey, I know you can do this," Dawson said sternly. He slowly looked up from the floor and at Dawson. She continued, "I've trusted you with my life again and again and you've come through everytime. You're not doing this alone. I'm right here."

Casey seemed to think about her words. He nodded and opened his mouth to respond.

Juliet screamed, interrupting their conversation. "I think this baby wants out," she panted.


End file.
